Solo NYPD patrols begin on NYC subway system, over police union’s objection
NYPD officers assigned to subway lines are now conducting solo patrols to expand law enforcement’s presence on mass transit, Mayor Adams announced Tuesday, over the objections from the city’s largest police union.
The solo patrols began Monday night, Adams said during an afternoon press conference in Brooklyn, where the NYPD demolished 100 dirt bikes seized during a crack down on reckless motorbike riders.
“For many years we had a version of what was called single patrol. I did it as a police officer,” Adams, a former transit cop said. “I wouldn’t have anyone do a job that I wouldn’t do.”
Only certain train stations will be patrolled by lone cops. None will take place during the overnight hours, Adams said.
“We are looking at how to better utilize our resources,” he explained. “We’re looking at the stations and if we find one where a single patrol is doable and we’ll do that.”
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the single patrols will help the department “cover more ground by patrolling more subway cars per tour.”
“We’re always looking to improve the way we work,” Sewell said.
The plan faces backlash from the city’s largest police union, which fears that solo patrols will limit an officer’s ability to protect the public and themselves.
“We can’t fix the NYPD staffing crisis by spreading our overstretched resources even thinner,” Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said last week. “Solo transit patrols were abandoned because they make it harder for cops to protect straphangers and ourselves. They’re even less effective now that criminals know there are no consequences for fighting cops and resisting arrest.”
Lynch said the initiative will “only accelerate the exodus” of officers putting in for retirement.
NYPD Transit Chief Jason Wilcox vowed the department will do everything it can to make sure cops on solo patrols are safe.
“We will always focus on their safety,” Wilcox said. “Their safety is paramount. No one knows how to and navigate the subway system better than NYPD officers.”
Massive stations like Fulton St. in Brooklyn or 34th St. in Midtown will not get solo patrols, Adams said.
Adams also urged commuters to always be on alert. “While I was out I saw women passengers in isolated areas, standing alone. That is just unsafe,” he said.
When pressed about the comment, Adams added that all commuters, not just women, should steer clear of areas where no one else is around.
“People should not be in an isolated area,” he said, adding, “When I ride the subway system, I look for the zebra stripes. I get in the conductor’s car, or the motorman’s car, so what I’m asking all passengers to do are the things that I learned as being a passenger, a former transit police officer.”
“Zebra stripes” refer to markings on a subway platform indicating where the conductor’s car will stop.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber, meanwhile, hailed the solo patrol plan.
“We want to make sure that our officers are present and spreading them out is one way to do that,” Leiber said at a press conference in the Bronx. “The MTA was asking the prior administration for that. Putting aside the question of how many cops are on the system, we wanted to make sure that cops were deployed to where riders feel vulnerable and that’s on the platforms and on the trains.
“I give the Mayor great credit because as an ex-transit cop, he gets it, that seeing a uniformed officer on the train is really reassuring,” Leiber said.
